Several years ago the dreadful crime of Charles Whitman shook the world. His brutal murder of 16 people shocked the sensibilities of upright citizens. Perhaps one of the most amazing things about the case was that this young man was an educated man, a university student. Thus, the Utopian theory that education is the solution to the crime problem was dashed in a thousand pieces to the ground.
The whole shortcoming of the philosophy which was prevalent a few years ago was that men failed to realize that education cannot provide moral force. It cannot change the sinful hearts of men. Only a knowledge of God can do this. And education in this modern age seems set upon the task of denying God and His rulership in the universe. Thus, the only moral force or anchor of strength to youth is torn away, and he drifts aimlessly on a sea of atheism and godlessness.
Probably the reason militant atheism has gained such a strong foothold on the educational system of the land is that the theory of evolution swept the world in the latter part of the last century.
The godless theory of evolution, actually, was in existence among the heathen in ancient times, but it took modern men of science who had fertile imaginations to crystallize it into a set theory which was to pervade all science. A number of men took part in formulating this modern version of evolutionary theory, but the prominent ones were Lyell, the geologist, and Charles Darwin, the biologist.
Whole books have been written on the subject, but there are three main points that must hold if the evolutionary theory is to be true. Here are the three basic principles in this theory. The first principle is that life must have arisen originally from inorganic matter. According to the theory, in other words, in the dim and distant past, there was a time when life came from that which was not living. The second of these principles is that the more complicated forms of life evolved from the simpler forms through millions of years. Therefore, according to the theory, the species are constantly and gradually changing and progressing. The third principle is that all forms of life are progressing upward and improving through "natural selection." This means that those who hold this theory believe, basically, that if an animal wishes for anything hard enough, he will get it. To illustrate, in the dim and distant past, perhaps the snakes thought it would be nice if they could have legs, so they wished and wished, and eventually turned into lizards. That is the general idea. It would be nice if wishing really did make things so, wouldn't it? Well, anyway, such are the principles upon which the evolutionary theory is founded.
This theory is in direct opposition to the Bible story of Creation which tells us that God created all forms of life simultaneously. But the theory of evolution really tears down, not only the creation story, but the whole basis for the Bible plan of redemption. If man is actually getting better, the Bible is untrue, for the Bible teaches that through sin, men are getting worse and worse. The way this theory wreaks havoc with Bible principles is mentioned by H. G. Wells, the prominent atheistic historian. Notice this statement found in Mr. Wells' autobiography. "It was only slowly that the general intelligence of the Western world was awakened to two disconcerting facts: first, that the succession of life in the geological record did not correspond with the acts of the six days of biological facts, pointed away from the Bible assertion of a separate creation of each species, straight toward a genetic relation between all forms of life, in which even man was included. The importance of this last issue to the existing doctrinal system was manifest. If all the animals and man had been evolved in this ascendant manner, then there had been no first parents, no Eden, no fall. And if there had been no fall, then the entire historical fabric of Christianity, the story of the first sin and the reason for an atonement, upon which the current teaching based Christian emotions and morality, collapsed like a house of cards."
Here we see that what is really involved in the evolutionary theory is the denial of every major point of faith in the Bible.
This godless, evolutionary philosophy was picked up quickly and incorporated into the educational system. The textbooks treat it as though it is a fact, when in reality, it is only a theory and a disproven one at that. Thus, in a century's time the vicious teaching of atheism has almost completely supplanted faith in the Bible. Dr. Joseph Findlay Paydon, a teacher himself, summed up the situation in these words, "For several years, my experience as a teacher, first in public schools in Illinois, later at Northwestern University, and now at the Naval Academy, and my service as a naval officer during the late war have brought me into close contact with young people from all parts of the country. Some very saddening facts have been brought to my attention, with ever increasing emphasis. Chief among these is that the Protestants, to our great disgrace, are neglecting to rear our children in the admonition of the Lord."
"Our neglect is so marked as to approach treason to our sovereign Master. We are allowing, no, we are forcing, our children to grow to maturity through a system of education deliberately designed to prevent their receiving a really accurate knowledge of the One person in history it is most needful they should know the truth about. In our schools, our children are subjected to a vicious barrage of insidious propaganda, from direct but unproved accusations to slowly phrased insinuations, denying the importance of our Lord. It sneers at His authority, and His unique claim upon mankind. It scoffs at the truthfulness of His Word. It seems to aim at the erasure of the evidence of His existence as well as His power. lt is constantly working to eradicate and destroy any confidence in our Creator and God, that our young people may have developed."
Thus, we can see that the educational system is permeated with this godless theory. In the wake of this type of training, our country is caught in the throes of crime and moral confusion. It is no wonder that the young people go astray when their faith is so undermined.
More and more children are being led toward crime, as parents throw away responsibility. Selfishness is often the keynote of the day and materialism the inspiration for living. God, in many instances, is not accepted in the home, and concepts of morality have been relegated to the junk heap. Our generation, it seems, has allowed old, faithful religious practices to slip into oblivion. As a result family life has been weakened. The nation has suffered and many of its children have become spiritually starved. A godless home is built upon the sand; it is an inviting breeding ground for moral decay and crime.
And yet, how unnecessary it all is for the theory of evolution is only an unproved and unprovable hypothesis. It is the result of sheer guesswork and misinterpretation of facts. Every basic assumption of evolution has been thoroughly disproved.
Let us take the first one we mentioned. This is the assumption that life must have sprung up spontaneously. The brilliant experiments of Louis Pasteur proved beyond any doubt that life comes only from life. This is the citadel upon which modern methods of sterilization and cleanliness are founded. Science definitely proves that there is a great unbridgable gap between the living and the non-living. So the very first assumption of evolution is totally unscientific.
Taking the next assumption of evolution, is it logical to suppose that all life originally sprang from the simpler forms, such as the one-celled animals? Here is a statement from one of the world's most renowned biologists, Austin H. Clark of the Smithsonian Institution. "There is no logic in the assumption that the early animals were of the single celled or protozoan type. All the single celled animals that we know are quite as highly specialized as are any other animals, though they are specialized in a wholly different way." We can easily see, then, on the basis of this statement, that the foundation of the evolutionary theory is cut out by real science. There is no likelihood, even from an imaginary viewpoint, that all life stemmed from miscroscopic organisms.
Another foundation stone of the theory is that there are no set species, but the various animals are evolving upwards into higher forms of life. This is directly contrary to the Biblical teaching that the animals were to reproduce "after their kind." (Genesis 1:24,25) What does science have to say about the evolution of species? Here is a statement from Dr. Bateson of the British Association of scientists. "Although we must hold to our faith in the evolution of species, there is little evidence as to how it has come about, and no clear proof that the process is continuing in any degree at the present time. The thought uppermost in our minds is that the knowledge of the nature of life is altogether too slender to warrant speculation on these fundamental subjects. Did we presume to offer such speculation they would have no more value than those which the alchemists might have made as to the nature of the elements." Now isn't that peculiar? Although Dr. Bateson admits there is no proof for the theory, he still says they must have faith in it. The scientist derides the Christian for exercising faith, and yet here he has greaer faith than a Christian ever had, faith to believe a theory that every scientific evidence refutes. Mr. Austin H. Clark, who was quoted a moment ago, has something to say also on this subject of the evolution of species. "The complete absence of any intermediate forms between the major groups of animals, which is one of the most striking and most significant phenomena brought out by the study of zoology, has hitherto been overlooked, or at least ignored."
The amazing facts are, then, that the majority of scientists are still clinging to the theory of evolution, despite the fact that it is biologically unproven and scientifically unscientific. How amazing it is that the minds of so many are able to believe the philosophy of evolution and still deny the simple Bible account of creation. It requires so much more faith to accept the claims of Darwin and his disciples. The miracle which evolution requires one to believe is staggering to contemplate. The creation and development of the human mind and body, purely through the blind nature and chance, it is too much to accept. Even the greatest scientists have not been able to duplicate the simplest processes of tiny cells in the body; yet, they ask us to believe that our complicated eyes, ears, etc. were produced without any intelligent design. What faith it would require to believe that!
What a contrast to the beautiful story of Genesis and its description of God's power in making man.